11a.m. and you’ve got yourself a deal.
Fine.
Chapter Twelve
Even though Lexi is on time to meet him (a supernatural achievement), Sam is waiting for her outside Peregrine with a dog leash on his wrist and two drinks in his hand.
He nods to her in greeting. ‘I got you a latte,’ he says, handing over the coffee. His skin grazes hers, which has no impact on her whatsoever, not even a small spark of electricity that is probably just static.
‘Thank you,’ she says automatically, but on the inside, she’s irritated. ‘How did you know it’s what I wanted?’
He shrugs. ‘A latte is the perfect drink from here. I’ve tried them all and analysed them. You don’t want to obscure the espresso with too many other flavours. A latte takes the edge off the bitterness but lets the espresso shine.’
She wants to tell him that just because it’shisfavourite, that doesn’t mean it’s objectively better, let alone whatshewants. But the annoying fact is, she can’t argue with his logic, because lattes are always what she gets, without putting anywhere near that much thought into it. ‘Okay,’ she says eventually.
‘Oscar wants to get going,’ he says, and she looks down and sees his dog. It’s the kind that even Lexi, avowed cat person, can’t resist, a little fluffy one, what her dad used to call a ball of wool on legs and what other people call a labradoodle.
‘Oscar is a great dog name.’
‘Right? I think so too.’ Sam smiles, a proud dog dad. ‘It’s our routine when he comes to visit, Peregrine and a walk in Lincoln Park. He knows he gets to run around with his dog friends when we get there.’
‘You know,’ Lexi tells him, ‘I really had you down as more of an Alsatian kind of guy. Or maybe a Rottweiler owner.’
Something about Sam loving this adorable ball of fluff makes her reconsider him as a person. Which would be fine, if she was planning to fall for him. But she’s not, so she’ll just have to file it under Interesting Things She Would Write in Her Diary if She Had Time to Write a Diary.
‘I’m full of surprises,’ he says. It’s playful; it’s maybe a little arrogant, too.
‘Oh yeah?’ She has this ridiculous urge to take his hand, to show him she is full of surprises too. To be fair, she is a little light-headed. This coffee is the first thing that’s gone into Lexi’s stomach since her first-thing-in-the-morning cup of tea. It’s been crazy at the bookshop, back-to-back meetings with Megan and Debbie about socks and mugs and notebooks and Tessa about the social media and the new accountant Lexi is hoping will solve her mathematical woes.
To be honest, this walk is the last thing Lexi has time for today. She should be brainstorming actual Independent Bookstore Day ideas with her staff, rather than a rival bookstore owner, plan or no plan. But she didn’t want to get judged for being flaky, so here they are.
Oscar runs around the patch of the park designated for dogs, his leash still dangling because he took off excitedly before Sam had a chance to remove it. Sam’s explained that it’s Oscar’s first day in DC, a visit while his parents are out of the country, and he seems thrilled to be back in Lincoln Park. No trace of 2020-related PTSD for this guy.
Lexi clears her throat, determined to get back on track with the business talk. ‘So... Independent Bookstore Day. What are your plans?’
Sam sips at his coffee. Lexi is fully aware of what he’s doing: the pause for dramatic effect. ‘What’s in it for me to divulge that?’
‘We should work together. We’re friendly bookstores, right?’
He raises an eyebrow, likesince when?Lexi thought she’d been better at concealing her irritation. She should know herself better by now.
‘How do I know you’re not just going to steal my ideas?’ he asks, with what Lexi has come to recognise as playfulness.
Lexi is incensed. ‘Excuse me. I have ideas of my own. I don’t need to steal yours.’
‘Really?’ Sam licks latte foam off his lip, but she catches his smirk anyway. ‘And what are these ideas?’
Lexi opens her mouth and nothing comes out. She really should have thought this through better.
‘Ha!’ he says. ‘See? You don’t want to tell me either!’
‘We might... decorate with balloons?’ she blurts, wanting to prove him wrong, even though he isn’t, exactly. Balloons? So lame. Why did she have to go and say that?
Oscar trots over to them, his leash still dangling. Maybe he wants to go home? Maybe this conversation can be over now? Lexi will retreat back to her cosy bookshop and Sam will retreat back to his corporate one and they shall never need to speak again of this misguided attempt to work together.
Sam bends down to scratch Oscar’s ears, and Lexi spies an empty bench and heads towards it, ready to slump there in defeat and wave Sam off back down the street while she sits sulking for a little bit.
But as she takes a step forward, so does Oscar, and her feet get tangled around his leash, and then, bam! Ground, meet Lexi; Lexi, meet ground.
